This image provided bu Microsoft shows the company’s new version of its Office software. The software became available to consumers as an online subscription service for the first time in an attempt to extend one of the company’s key franchises beyond personal computers on Tuesday, Jan. 29, 2013. (AP Photo/Microsoft)

SAN FRANCISCO (AP) — Microsoft is aiming its redesigned Office software at the growing number of people who expect their favorite applications to be at their fingertips, wherever there’s an Internet connection.

In an attempt to extend a lucrative franchise beyond personal computers, the world’s biggest software maker is selling a retooled version of Office as an online subscription service to consumers for the first time. It’s a departure from Microsoft’s traditional approach of granting permission to install Office on solitary machines for a one-time fee.

Tuesday’s release comes six months after Microsoft previewed the new-look Office, which includes popular word processing, spreadsheets and email programs.

“This is a fundamental shift in our business that began a several years ago,” Microsoft CEO Steve Ballmer wrote in a blog post.

The revamped Office boasts touch controls, just like the redesigned version of the Windows operating system that Microsoft Corp. released three months ago. The company, which is based in Redmond, Wash., is trying to ensure that its products retain their appeal at a time when people increasingly rely on mobile devices instead of personal computers.